The growing expectation is that car ownership will decline as transportation becomes a widespread service-on-demand. Add to this, the convergence of driverless cars with electric vehicles (EVs) and the transportation industry is facing a disruption not seen since the introduction of the Ford Model T. Predictions are that there will be 30 million EVs by 2030 with sales in China accounting for almost 50% of the global EV market.

Frenzied competition between companies like Uber and Lyft is converging with both traditional car companies (GM, BMW, Audi, Mercedes Benz) and technology leaders (Google, Apple, Tesla) in the race to dominate on-demand mobility. Moving beyond the era of car ownership, commercial industries supporting buses, trains, trucking and construction are also set for disruption. Industries that adapt to these trends will reap significant wealth over the coming decades. While industries that resist these trends will likely disappear completely.

Here are the Top 10 industries set to be transformed by autonomous vehicles:

1. Travel

Getty

Cross-country travel is now a rite of passage. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will make recreational travel even more compelling as frictionless car travel becomes a safe and convenient alternative to the hassles of plane and train travel. The expanding range of electric AVs will radically disrupt the hotel industry as people simply choose to sleep and eat in their vehicles. Business travelers will have the option to avoid taking domestic flights entirely even as new generations of Americans begin to explore the possibilities of cross-country travel without the need for car ownership.

2. Media and Entertainment

Getty

Expanding connectivity and the proliferation of 5G networks— at 100 times the data transfer speeds of 4G— will allow AVs to become a vast platform for drivers and passengers to consume ever greater amounts of media content. The integration of screen technology into smart glass will mean that cars will become a new environment for consuming visual media along with virtual reality, augmented reality and network gaming. For advertisers and tech companies like Gauzy, this will mean a huge opportunity to present audiences with location-based advertising and marketing for goods and services.

3. Sex

Getty

Much as ecommerce was initially driven by porn, so self-driving cars will become especially popular for sex. Cars are already synonymous with romance and dating and have been for generations. According to a recent study, the majority of Americans (60%) have had sex in their cars. As authors of a new study on EVs explain, hotels that rent rooms by the hour will likely be replaced by self-driving cars. Additionally, driverless cars will mean that sex workers will become more independent and more widely distributed as the sex industry goes mobile.

4. Work

Getty

With falling prices in renewable energy, electric autonomous vehicles (or EAV) will increasingly resemble mobile offices supported by redesigned service stations that evolve to support live-work lifestyles. Today’s digital nomads will flourish as new industries emerge to serve their need for balancing work and play. Companies like Shanghai-based Yanfeng Automotive Interiors is already beginning to explore the transformation of the car as new modes of living and working become better integrated

5. Energy

Getty

Transportation currently accounts for 14 percent of global CO2 emissions. As electric vehicles push demand for battery technology, they will store energy and potentially feed electricity back to the grid as mini power plants. Even as expanding self-driving fleets use more and more energy, electric cars will provide new sources of energy production as well as energy consumption. Leveling out daily electricity demand and storing renewable energy as grid nodes, EAVs will become part of the grid itself.

6. Public Transit

Getty

According to one OECD study, cars-on-demand could cut traffic by 90%. Falling prices in on-demand transportation coupled to 5G networks will mean that public transit could be a thing of the past. App-based companies like Uber and Lyft are merely precursors to a new era of expansive EAV networks. Building on internet connectivity, the future will be shared, multimodal networks that link public transit to ride-sharing, eliminating the need for car ownership altogether.

The modern city has largely been designed around the car. In the US today, 250 million cars and trucks share 164,000 miles of highways and 4-million-miles of public roads. Redesigning smart cities around on-demand EAVs will eliminate the need for parking as driverless fleets shuttle passengers to and from their destinations. Since the average privately owned car is only used 5% of the time, McKinsey estimates that self-driving cars will free up 61 billion square feet of unnecessary parking spacein the US. Cost-efficient EAVs will entirely reshape commuter preferences disrupting both real estate and public transit.

10. Delivery

Getty

Close to 3.7 billion people now live in cities. That number is projected to rise to 6 billion or 70% of the world’s population by 2050. As urbanization makes on-demand transportation the norm, companies like Uber and Amazon will transform restaurants, laundry, mail, groceries, pharmaceutical drugs, childcare and more. Uber, for example, has successfully expanded into food delivery with UberEats, while GM's subsidiary Cruise Automation has begun exploring driverless delivery with DoorDash.

The growing expectation is that car ownership will decline as transportation becomes a widespread service-on-demand. Add to this, the convergence of driverless cars with electric vehicles (EVs) and the transportation industry is facing a disruption not seen since the introduction of the Ford Model T. Predictions are that there will be 30 million EVs by 2030 with sales in China accounting for almost 50% of the global EV market.

Frenzied competition between companies like Uber and Lyft is converging with both traditional car companies (GM, BMW, Audi, Mercedes Benz) and technology leaders (Google, Apple, Tesla) in the race to dominate on-demand mobility. Moving beyond the era of car ownership, commercial industries supporting buses, trains, trucking and construction are also set for disruption. Industries that adapt to these trends will reap significant wealth over the coming decades. While industries that resist these trends will likely disappear completely.

Here are the Top 10 industries set to be transformed by autonomous vehicles:

1. Travel

Cross-country travel is now a rite of passage. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will make recreational travel even more compelling as frictionless car travel becomes a safe and convenient alternative to the hassles of plane and train travel. The expanding range of electric AVs will radically disrupt the hotel industry as people simply choose to sleep and eat in their vehicles. Business travelers will have the option to avoid taking domestic flights entirely even as new generations of Americans begin to explore the possibilities of cross-country travel without the need for car ownership.

2. Media and Entertainment

Expanding connectivity and the proliferation of 5G networks— at 100 times the data transfer speeds of 4G— will allow AVs to become a vast platform for drivers and passengers to consume ever greater amounts of media content. The integration of screen technology into smart glass will mean that cars will become a new environment for consuming visual media along with virtual reality, augmented reality and network gaming. For advertisers and tech companies like Gauzy, this will mean a huge opportunity to present audiences with location-based advertising and marketing for goods and services.

3. Sex

Much as ecommerce was initially driven by porn, so self-driving cars will become especially popular for sex. Cars are already synonymous with romance and dating and have been for generations. According to a recent study, the majority of Americans (60%) have had sex in their cars. As authors of a new study on EVs explain, hotels that rent rooms by the hour will likely be replaced by self-driving cars. Additionally, driverless cars will mean that sex workers will become more independent and more widely distributed as the sex industry goes mobile.

4. Work

With falling prices in renewable energy, electric autonomous vehicles (or EAV) will increasingly resemble mobile offices supported by redesigned service stations that evolve to support live-work lifestyles. Today’s digital nomads will flourish as new industries emerge to serve their need for balancing work and play. Companies like Shanghai-based Yanfeng Automotive Interiors is already beginning to explore the transformation of the car as new modes of living and working become better integrated

5. Energy

Transportation currently accounts for 14 percent of global CO2 emissions. As electric vehicles push demand for battery technology, they will store energy and potentially feed electricity back to the grid as mini power plants. Even as expanding self-driving fleets use more and more energy, electric cars will provide new sources of energy production as well as energy consumption. Leveling out daily electricity demand and storing renewable energy as grid nodes, EAVs will become part of the grid itself.

6. Public Transit

According to one OECD study, cars-on-demand could cut traffic by 90%. Falling prices in on-demand transportation coupled to 5G networks will mean that public transit could be a thing of the past. App-based companies like Uber and Lyft are merely precursors to a new era of expansive EAV networks. Building on internet connectivity, the future will be shared, multimodal networks that link public transit to ride-sharing, eliminating the need for car ownership altogether.

The modern city has largely been designed around the car. In the US today, 250 million cars and trucks share 164,000 miles of highways and 4-million-miles of public roads. Redesigning smart cities around on-demand EAVs will eliminate the need for parking as driverless fleets shuttle passengers to and from their destinations. Since the average privately owned car is only used 5% of the time, McKinsey estimates that self-driving cars will free up 61 billion square feet of unnecessary parking spacein the US. Cost-efficient EAVs will entirely reshape commuter preferences disrupting both real estate and public transit.

10. Delivery

Close to 3.7 billion people now live in cities. That number is projected to rise to 6 billion or 70% of the world’s population by 2050. As urbanization makes on-demand transportation the norm, companies like Uber and Amazon will transform restaurants, laundry, mail, groceries, pharmaceutical drugs, childcare and more. Uber, for example, has successfully expanded into food delivery with UberEats, while GM's subsidiary Cruise Automation has begun exploring driverless delivery with DoorDash.

Advertisement

About Us

Newsrust.com is a multi-platform publisher of news and information.

Newsrust.com has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers by focusing on health, personal finance, education, sports, travel, news and opinion.